Hey Guys,
I bought a 2008 Wrangler in November and noticed that it has surface rust on the a-pilar. It is located on the window frame where there are 2 bolts. The rust appears to be coming from behind the bolts. Anyone else have this issue and does the warranty cover this?
I've owned a 2000 Wrangler in the past and also noticed different areas of the vehicle are prone to rust but this is a brand new vehicle.

First off... It's RUST. You guys both live in areas prone to rust and corrosion due to the chemicals and minerals they put on the roads in the winter to melt ice and snow. I know, I lived in the east the bulk of my adult life.

"Discoloration" in paint should NEVER happen. If it does, this means the paint isn't sealed with the clear coat and needs to be repaired under the vehicles exterior paint warranty. Road grime washes off and is NEVER reddish unless you live in a trailer park on Mars. NOTHING should EVER penetrate a Urethane finish (which your Jeeps both have).
The reason it's rusting is that Chrysler in it's infinite wisdom implemented cost cutting measures (to charge more for less) and has removed certain steps in assembly of these vehicles. In the past, parts were painted, then installed. Your Jeeps are assembled then painted, leaving unprotected, bare parts under mounting areas.

DO NOT let the dealer jerk you around... It's rust, pure and simple and needs to be repaired and IS covered under the "paint, rust and corrosion" part of your warranty.

That rust isn't going to start creating holes until AFTER your warranty runs out. This is why they tell you it's road grime. And by then, it will be too late and you'll end up replacing the windshield frame and have to have parts of the tub cut out and welded back in.

ok, so I went to my dealer yesterday and showed the service advisor the rust. He said that they have never seen this before...which I thought was a bunch of crap!
So we looked at several new wranglers sitting on the lot. Guess what 5 out of 6 we looked at were rusting in the same place. So the service guy said that it looks like this normal and not to worry. I said are you kidding me? He then states that if they are all like this than there shouldn't be any concern.

I told him that they need to fix the problem. So, he finally said he will talk with the service manager and call back.
I didn't receive a call back yesterday so he will be hearing from me today.

I would recommend that you all take a close look at your jeeps to see if you have the same problem as many of the new jeeps on the lot are rusting.

I just received a call from the service advisor, he said that he talked to the jeep rep who stated this is a new concern. They stated they do not have a fix yet but they will clean the area at this time.
I asked what that meant? He stated they will use compound to clean the area until they find a permanent solution as this is an issue with several of the new jeeps.

Hilldweller...I do not have pics at this time. If you look at the windshield frame a-pillar there are 4 bolts on both sides of the frame that you unscrew to lower the windshield frame. If you look at the bolts you will most likely see rust forming from behind and around the bolts. I personally noticed this on several other new wranglers sitting on the dealers lot.

Is it possible that those torx head bolts are what is actually rusting? We get a lot of road salt in my area, and I have noticed some surface rust on one of the 4 you mentioned. Mine is an '08 model JK Rubicon that rolled off the assembly line on 12/10/07.

Oh wow... Just gonna "buff" out that rust huh? Just like Chrysler to wait until the problem costs them millions. And they wonder why they need a bailout! At least the TJ's waited until they were almost 10 years old to rust out! At this rate, JK's are gonna be as rare as CJ in the east!

Seriously, I would skip my local service department all together. You've ran it up the "local" chain and that didn't work for ya. Contact Chrysler yourself. You can find the info on the web.